Marcus Mariota already is part of the lore of a famous statue, having won the 2014 Heisman Trophy. Now he has something that might not be so prestigious, but is edible.

After signing on with Subway restaurants as their latest “Famous Fan,” Mariota unveiled a life-size food sculpture Wednesday in his hometown of Honolulu. The main ingredient of the structure: guacamole.

That made the Oregon quarterback and likely early pick in next week’s draft laugh loudly. He says “When they first showed it to us at the house, my mom, she made sure I got a photo with it.”

The statue was made by food sculptor Jim Victor.

Mariota joins Robert Griffin III, Ndamukong Suh, Mark Ingram, Anthony Barr and Jarvis Jones as NFL players who have been immortalized in meat, poultry and vegetables.

SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Leaders of summer Olympic sports have praised Brazilian organizers for getting preparations back on track for next year’s games in Rio de Janeiro.

A year ago, Rio organizers were sharply criticized for severe construction delays and political wrangling when they appeared before the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations at their meeting in Turkey.

On Wednesday, the reception at ASOIF’s general assembly in Sochi was warm as president Francesco Ricci Bitti said “the situation is totally changed,” with venue plans back on schedule.

He praised organizers who had “worked very hard” to rectify problems.

Ricci Bitti said ASOIF’s criticism last year pushed the Brazilian government to offer more help to Olympic organizers after providing only “light support” previously.

Lincoln – The Big Ten and Big East Conferences announced Wednesday that the Huskers will travel to defending Big East champion Villanova in the inaugural Gavitt Tipoff Games this November.

The Big East home games will be telecast on Fox Sports 1, while Big Ten home games will air on BTN or an ESPN Network.

The event is named after Dave Gavitt, the late Big East commissioner and Basketball Hall of Famer, and features eight matchups a year between Big Ten and Big East teams over the next eight seasons beginning with this November. Big Ten members will participate a minimum of four times over the next eight seasons, while Big East Teams will play at least six times in the event.

Villanova went 33-3 and won the Big East title for the second consecutive season with a 16-2 mark in 2014-15. The Wildcats were upset by North Carolina State in the round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament. Villanova is led by Ryan Arcidiacono, who shared Big East Player-of-the-Year honors, averaging 10.1 points and 3.6 assists per game in 2014-15.

Villanova leads the all-time series, 2-0, posting natural site wins during the 1987-88 (Maui Classic) and the 1998-99 (Top of the World Classic) seasons.

The Huskers have fared well in conference challenges dating back to its days in the Big 12 Conference. NU went 3-1 in the Big 12/Pac 10 Hardwood Series, while also going 3-1 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Under Head Coach Tim Miles, NU is 3-0 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, including a 2-0 road mark.

The Huskers welcome back a pair of starters in 2015, including rising senior Shavon Shields (15.4 ppg, 6.0 rpg) as well as a nationally ranked recruiting class which includes freshmen Ed Morrow Jr. and Glynn Watson Jr., both of whom are ranked in the top-75 nationally by ESPN.com. In addition, the Huskers also gain the services of guard Andrew White III, who sat out last season after transferring from Kansas.

Gavitt Tipoff Games Schedule
Tuesday, Nov. 17
Georgetown at Maryland
DePaul at Penn State
Nebraska at Villanova

Wednesday, Nov. 18
Illinois at Providence

Thursday, Nov. 19
Creighton at Indiana
Iowa at Marquette
Rutgers at St. John’s

Friday, Nov. 20
Xavier at Michigan

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma City Thunder have fired coach Scott Brooks.

The team made the announcement Wednesday.

Brooks coached the Thunder for seven seasons. Starting in 2010-11, he led the team to the Western Conference Finals three out of four years, and the Thunder reached the NBA Finals in 2012. The Thunder failed to make the playoffs this past season, as injuries limited them to a 45-37 finish.

Brooks was 338-207 (.620) with the Thunder and was the 2009-10 NBA Coach of the Year.

DENVER (AP) — Derek Norris hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the eighth inning and the San Diego Padres rallied to beat the Colorado Rockies 7-6 on Tuesday night.

Clint Barmes homered and Wil Myers had three hits for San Diego, which has won three straight and six of seven.

Nick Hundley hit his first homer as a Rockie and also tripled. Colorado has lost five straight after starting the season 7-2.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The NBA will stage an exhibition game in South Africa on Aug. 1.

The NBA and National Basketball Players Association announced details for its first exhibition in Africa on Wednesday.

Luol Deng of the Miami Heat will lead Team Africa against a Team World, captained by Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers.

The game will be at Ellis Park Arena in Johannesburg.

Basketball is more popular in West Africa than southern Africa, but South Africa’s main cable TV network shows live NBA games, and the NBA has visited the country regularly recently to hold training camps and charity events. The NBA opened an office in South Africa in 2010.

The NBA said it’ll also bring over coaches for the game, including coach of the year Mike Budenholzer of Atlanta.

KEARNEY, Neb. – The USHL announced the seeding and schedule for the Western Conference Final of the 2015 Clark Cup Playoffs Tuesday night. The second-seeded Tri-City Storm will take on the fourth-seeded Sioux Falls Stampede in a best-of-five series starting on Friday night at the Viaero Event Center.

Tri-City will also host Game 2 on Saturday night and if necessary, Game 5 on Tuesday, May 5. Tickets for Game 1 are on sale now at the Viaero Event Center Box Office.

Game 2 tickets will go on sale Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. Tickets can be purchased in person, online at stormhockey.com, or over the phone by calling 308.338.8011. The Viaero Event Center Box Office is openMonday–Friday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.

The full schedule for the series can be found below.

The teams’ most recent playoff meeting came in 2007, with the Stampede defeating Tri-City 4-3 in a round robin quarterfinal matchup. The clubs also met during the 2006 postseason, with Sioux Falls besting the Storm 3-2 in a five-game Divisional Semifinal series.

During the 2014-15 regular season, Tri-City went 3-3-0 against Sioux Falls.

Cunningham’s Journal in Kearney will continue to host official watch parties for all road playoff games, beginning with Game 3 on Friday, May 1.

The first 1,500 fans in attendance Friday night will receive a Clark Cup Playoff Rally Towel courtesy of Mirror Image of Kearney. Friday’s game is also a Free Kids Friday, with kids 12-and-under receiving one free ticket for each paid adult. Tri-City will offer $2 soda and $2 hot dogs from the time doors open at 6:30 p.m. until the puck drops at 7:30.

#2 Tri-City Storm vs. #4 Sioux Falls Stampede

Game 1: Friday, April 24, 7:30 PM – Sioux Falls @ Tri-City (Viaero Event Center)

Game 2: Saturday, April 25, 7:05 PM – Sioux Falls @ Tri-City (Viaero Event Center)

Game 3: Friday, May 1, 7:05 PM – Tri-City @ Sioux Falls (Cunningham’s Journal)

Game 4: Saturday, May 2, 7:05 PM – Tri-City @ Sioux Falls** (Cunningham’s Journal)

Game 5: Tuesday, May 5, 7:05 PM – Sioux Falls @ Tri-City** (Viaero Event Center)

The North Platte Community College Knights lost both games of a doubleheader against the McCook Community College Lady Indians Tuesday night at the Wayne Dowhower Softball Complex, 8 – 0 and 5 – 4.

In the first game the Lady Indians started the scoring off on a home run by McKenzie Bilger, which also scored Madison Chitwood to make the score 2 – 0.  Chitwood added a home run in the sixth to make the score 3 – 0.

In the seventh inning the Lady Indians scored four runs highlighted by back to back doubles by Bilger and Jasmine Pemble.

Lady Indian pitcher Robin Harrison only allowed two hits, one each by Sara Villalobos and Jessica Jarvis.

In game two, McCook’s Averi Miller scored runs in the first and third inning to give the Lady Indians a 2 – 0 lead.  The Knights tied the score in the fourth with runs by Villalobos and Christina Rodie.  The Lady Indians answered back in the fifth when Miller scored her third run of the game.  The Lady Indians scored two more insurance runs in the sixth by Samantha Kelinski and Jessica Rivera.

The Knights cut the lead to one on runs by Brittney Odum and Tara Crouch.

McKinley Earnest pitched six innings and allowed the four runs on six hits to get the win.  Harrison came on in the seventh to get the save.  Harrison walked her first batter and then struck out the side to seal the victory.

The Knights finish the regular season at 17 – 25.  They will host the Region IX Division II Tournament this weekend, April 24 – 25.  The Knight earned the number one seed and will receive a first round bye.  They will face the winner of the Central and Southeast game.

All North Platte games will be broadcast on ESPN 1410 or www.northplattepost.com.  All tournament games will be live streamed on www.coachesaid.com.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Mike Moustakas hit a two-run homer, then drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the eighth inning, as the Kansas City Royals rallied to beat the Minnesota Twins 6-5 on Tuesday night.

The Royals trailed 5-3 in the sixth when Christian Colon started their comeback with an RBI double. Colon added a run-scoring groundout off Casey Fien (0-1) in the eighth to knot the game, and Moustakas fileted a single to left off Glen Perkins to take the lead.

Chris Young (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings in relief of struggling starter Jason Vargas, and Wade Davis breezed through the ninth for his third save of the season.

Davis has been closing games with All-Star reliever Greg Holland on the disabled list.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Supervisors unanimously voted Tuesday to ban chewing tobacco from sports playing fields in the city, including AT&T Park.

San Francisco Supervisor Mark Farrell said the proposal specifically targets baseball, which has a long history of players masticating and spitting tobacco juice on the field. He said kids shouldn’t get the idea that they need to use tobacco to be a great ballplayer.

The city currently prohibits cigarette and cigar smoking at sports arenas, fields, parks and stadiums. Tuesday’s ordinance adds smokeless tobacco —moist inhalable snuff and chewing tobacco —to the list. AT&T Park is home to the San Francisco Giants, last year’s World Series champions.

Minor league baseball has banned chewing tobacco since the early 1990s, but it’s still a negotiable contract item with Major League Baseball players.

The ordinance, which needs another formal vote by the board next week, would take effect Jan. 1.